Things to do in Newton

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VariesFeatured
Seasonal & Holiday
St. Mary of Carmen Festival
Nonantum’s four-day Italian street feast — processions, a midway, sausage carts and fireworks.
Wed, Oct 7 – Oct 7
Nonantum
4.9(421)
FreeFeatured
Outdoors & Parks
Chestnut Hill Reservoir Loop
A flat 1.5-mile gravel loop around open water, with the Boston skyline on the far side.
Chestnut Hill
4.8(412)
VariesFeatured
Shopping
Newtonville Books
A beloved independent bookstore with a serious author-event calendar and excellent staff picks.
Newtonville
4.9(288)
FreeFeatured
Outdoors & Parks
Hemlock Gorge Reservation & Echo Bridge
Hemlock-shaded trails above a rocky river gorge, with a stone aqueduct arch that echoes fifteen times.
Newton Highlands
4.8(276)
VariesFeatured
Family & Kids
Newton Community Farm
The city’s last working farm — a farmstand, kids’ programs, and 300 years of continuous cultivation.
Thompsonville
4.9(187)
FreeFeatured
Arts & Culture
Echo Bridge Photo Walk
The classic Newton shot: a stone arch over a gorge, best in the last hour of light in October.
Newton Upper Falls
4.8(197)
FreeFeatured
Seasonal & Holiday
Newton Centre Green Summer Concert
Free Thursday-evening concerts on the triangle green — bring a blanket and dinner from the square.
Tue, Sep 15 – Sep 15
Newton Centre
4.7(189)
FreeFeatured
Outdoors & Parks
Nahanton Park
Meadows, woods and a canoe launch on the Charles — Newton’s premier birding spot at 180+ species.
Oak Hill
4.8(164)
$10–$15Featured
Seasonal & Holiday
Fall Harvest Festival at the Farm
Cider pressing, hayrides, a pie contest and live bluegrass on the farm’s one big public day.
Wed, Nov 18 · 10:00 AM–3:00 PM
Thompsonville
4.8(142)
FreeFeatured
Outdoors & Parks
Cochituate Aqueduct Trail
A dead-flat grassy path along a buried 19th-century aqueduct, running for miles through backyards and woods.
Waban
4.7(121)
FreeFeatured
Outdoors & Parks
Auburndale Cove & Riverside Playground
A gentle Charles River cove with a sandy edge, big shade trees and one of Newton’s best-loved playgrounds.
Auburndale
4.7(96)
Free
Family & Kids
Newton Free Library
One of the busiest public libraries in Massachusetts: huge children’s wing, museum passes, quiet study floors.
Newton Centre
4.9(508)
Free
Outdoors & Parks
Cold Spring Park Trails
67 acres of woodland loop trails, a cross-country course, and a Tuesday farmers market in season.
Newton Highlands
4.7(231)
Varies
Shopping
The Street Chestnut Hill
An open-air shopping block with big-name retail, a cinema, and better-than-average patio dining.
Chestnut Hill
4.4(287)
Free
Seasonal & Holiday
West Newton Fourth of July Parade
Newton’s hometown Independence Day parade — decorated bikes, fire trucks, and a whole lot of candy.
Thu, Aug 19 · 10:00 AM–12:00 PM
West Newton
4.7(198)
Free
Arts & Culture
Boston College Campus Walk & Bapst Library
Collegiate Gothic towers, a hilltop reservoir view, and a reading room that looks like a cathedral.
Chestnut Hill
4.7(168)
Free
Fitness
Upper Falls Greenway
A flat, paved rail-trail through the old mill district, with public art and a mile of easy walking.
Newton Upper Falls
4.6(158)
$20–$45
Food & Drink
West Newton Main Street Dinner & a Movie
Eat on Washington Street, walk fifty feet to the cinema — Newton’s easiest night out.
West Newton
4.5(172)
Free
Fitness
Charles River Greenway — Newton Corner Access
Hop onto the paved riverside path here and ride all the way into Boston without a traffic light.
Newton Corner
4.6(143)
Free
Seasonal & Holiday
Nonantum Village Day
A one-day neighborhood block party with a road race, a parade, and the fire department’s hose spray.
Wed, Oct 21 · 10:00 AM–4:00 PM
Nonantum
4.7(118)
Free
Seasonal & Holiday
Waban Village Winter Tree Lighting
A small, genuinely charming tree lighting in the square with carols, cocoa and a fire truck Santa.
Tue, Jan 19 · 3:30 PM–4:30 PM
Waban
4.8(87)
Free
Outdoors & Parks
Pellegrini Park Bocce Courts
Real bocce courts with real regulars — show up, watch a while, and you will get invited in.
Nonantum
4.7(86)
Free
Seasonal & Holiday
Oak Hill Winter Sledding Hill
A long, open slope that becomes the neighborhood sledding destination after every storm.
Oak Hill
4.6(94)
Free
Arts & Culture
West Newton Hill Architecture Walk
Grand Victorians, Shingle Style porches and Colonial Revivals on Newton’s most photogenic hill.
West Newton
4.6(94)
$14–$28
Food & Drink
Newton Corner Sunday Brunch Row
Three brunch spots within a block of the Washington Street rotary, none of them requiring a reservation.
Newton Corner
4.3(118)
Free
Family & Kids
Newton Corner Playground at Cabot
Shaded modern play structures, a toddler section, and a splash pad in summer.
Newton Corner
4.5(88)
Free
Arts & Culture
Mill District Studio Open House
Working artists open their mill-building studios one weekend each season — painting, ceramics, glass.
Wed, Sep 30 · 11:00 AM–5:00 PM
Newton Upper Falls
4.7(71)
Free
Family & Kids
Auburndale Library Story Hour
Songs, rhymes and picture books for toddlers and preschoolers at the Auburndale branch.
Wed, Sep 16 · 10:30 AM–11:30 AM
Auburndale
4.9(58)
$18–$30
Arts & Culture
Community Theatre Night in the Highlands
Local companies stage plays and musicals in a small Highlands house — tickets under $30.
Tue, Sep 22 – Sep 22
Newton Highlands
4.5(79)
Free
Fitness
Charles River Canoe Launch at Nahanton
Put in on the Charles’s quiet southern bend — no motorboats, no crowds, herons everywhere.
Oak Hill
4.7(61)
Free
Fitness
Auburndale Park Pickleball Courts
Four striped courts, open play mornings, and a very welcoming regular crowd.
Auburndale
4.5(73)
Free
Outdoors & Parks
Oak Hill Conservation Trails
Quiet, rooty single-track through Newton’s biggest stretch of unbroken woodland.
Oak Hill
4.5(72)
Free
Fitness
Reservoir Sunset Run Club
A no-drop group run around the Reservoir every Thursday evening, all paces welcome.
Tue, Sep 15 – Sep 15
Chestnut Hill
4.6(64)
Free
Fitness
Lower Falls Aqueduct to West Newton Ride
A flat six-mile out-and-back on quiet streets and aqueduct paths, ending at coffee.
West Newton
4.5(66)
Free
Outdoors & Parks
Farlow Park
A Victorian-era pocket park with a pond, weeping willows and Newton’s oldest planted landscape.
Newton Corner
4.4(67)
Varies
Family & Kids
Nahanton Park Community Gardens
Over a hundred garden plots on a sunny hillside — open to walk through, with a waitlist to grow.
Oak Hill
4.6(55)
Free
Family & Kids
Hemlock Gorge Family Nature Hunt
A ranger-guided scavenger hunt through the gorge for ages 5–10, ending under Echo Bridge.
Thu, Sep 24 · 10:00 AM–11:30 AM
Newton Upper Falls
4.8(44)
Free
Outdoors & Parks
Charles River Path — Lower Falls Riverbank
A short, pretty riverside walk past old mill dams where the Charles drops toward Wellesley.
Newton Lower Falls
4.4(62)
Free
Family & Kids
Newton Farmers Market Kids’ Craft Table
A free craft and seed-planting table for kids alongside the Tuesday market.
Mon, Sep 14 · 2:00 PM–5:00 PM
Newtonville
4.6(51)
Free
Outdoors & Parks
Blue Heron Bridge Crossing
A pedestrian bridge over the Charles connecting Newton to Wellesley — great heron spotting at dusk.
Newton Lower Falls
4.6(47)
Free
Fitness
Waban Hill Tennis Courts
Public hard courts with a backboard, rarely a wait outside weekend mornings.
Waban
4.3(57)
Free
Family & Kids
Angier Woods Short Loop
A twenty-minute wooded loop that feels like a real hike to a five-year-old.
Waban
4.4(48)
Free
Family & Kids
Lower Falls Playground & Ball Field
A quiet neighborhood playground that never feels crowded, with a full ball field beside it.
Newton Lower Falls
4.4(39)
Free
Fitness
Thompsonville Neighborhood Loop Walk
A flat two-mile residential loop linking the farm, Nahanton Park and Winchester Street.
Thompsonville
4.3(37)
Free
Arts & Culture
Mill Village Architecture Walk
A self-guided loop past 19th-century mill housing, a 1811 church, and the old paper works.
Newton Lower Falls
4.2(33)

Things to do in Newton, MA · ntactivity